1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of slide structures, and more particularly to an adapter kit that can be combined with a conventional slide to provide a hidden slide design.
2. Description of the Related Art
Slide is used extensively in furniture such as file cabinets, cupboards and tables to facilitate users to push or pull a drawer to slide. Common slides are divided according to sliding length into two types, respectively: a fully extendable three-piece slide module capable of carrying a heavier load and a three-quarter extendable two-piece slide module capable of carrying a lighter load. Either one of the aforementioned types of the slide modules includes at least one inner rail, an outer rail and at least one slide element coupled between the inner rail and the outer rail, wherein the outer rail and the inner rail are manufactured by bending and shaping a steel material.
Since most of the present slide modules are installed between a side of a drawer and an inner side of a piece of furniture, the slide module has a cross-section in a long flat shape with the shorter sides much smaller than the longer sides to facilitate users to install the slide module into a gap between the drawer and the furniture. In installation, the two longer sides are fixed onto a side of the drawer and an inner side of the furniture respectively, thus resulting in a smaller installation cross-section. The long flat shaped slide module can improve lateral strength to prevent the problem of drooping the slide or the drawer due to heavy weight.
On the other hand, some hidden slide modules available in the market are designed for the aesthetic purpose, and the hidden slide modules are installed between the bottom of the drawer and the inner bottom of the furniture. Since the slide modules cannot be seen from any side when the drawer is pulled out, therefore they are called “hidden slide modules”. However, the weight of the drawer presses down on the hidden slide modules after the drawer is pulled out, and the force acting direction is different from that of the general slide modules, so that the hidden slide modules have a cross-section in a rectangular shape. Unlike the long flat shaped design of the general slide modules, the rectangular shaped slide modules can bear a heaver load. To enhance the buffering function of closing the drawer, it is necessary to redesign the structure and thus increasing the development and manufacturing costs significantly. When the strength is taken into consideration and the general slide with a buffering function available in the market cannot be applied, the hidden slide module with the buffering function for closing the drawer has drawbacks including a poor buffering smoothness, a too-short buffering time, and an insufficient buffering distance. Sometimes, the buffering function is poor or even disabled when the drawer is slammed into its slot. In view of the drawbacks of the conventional slide module, the inventor of the present invention provided an improved slide module to overcome the complicated structure, uneasy manufacture and high price of the conventional slide module.